Georgia on my Mind

Georgia O'Keefe.....master painter of flowers, and one of
my favorites.  In my art class today, they learned about her
and how she painted flowers.  We examined her sunflower painting,
and then tried to copy it on canvas.  They did pretty well!
It was fun, and they got to take home their
little creation!  It was a good day!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Children's Art Classes  Every Wednesday from 4-5 pm
$15.00 a lesson
We only meet during the school year.  I will schedule other
special classes during the summer

Poppies and Owls

Who likes painting owls in art class!?  They dooooo.  We finished up our art
classes for the year today.  They completed these owl designs, and then
we enjoyed some ice cream outside on the patio!

On my way home from Texas this past weekend, I went by this wonderful
place.  It is the Wildseed Farm, outside of Fredericksburg, Texas.  I knew the
poppies would be in bloom, and I wanted to get some pictures.

And so I started this poppy drawing tonight from one of the photos.
I have always loved poppies...they are such classic flowers, and have
such beautiful form.  I will post some of the progress on this as I go along.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Pulling the Print

A Styrofoam print...an owl. 

The paint and the brayer

The block is "inked" and ready to print

This is the black and white print!

Samuel pulling his print..it's a rattlesnake

And Kate pulling hers..a parrot

We started our children's art classes this week.  Our first
project was printing a Styrofoam block.  They selected which design
they wanted to draw onto their Styrofoam.  Then they
drew the lines with a pencil, and pushed down to make
indentions or grooves.  We inked the block with some
black paint and the brayer, rolling the paint onto the surface.
We placed the white paper over the block, and
rubbed the surface until all the paint had transferred.
And then the exciting part: pulling the print away from the
block, and seeing it for the first time!  They drew a parrot,
a snake, a flower, an alligator, and a deer...fun!

Children's Art Classes  Wednesdays 4-5 pm
Pea Patch Gallery  $15.00 each lesson
All supplies included
For info call or email: sheltongail@hotmail.com
318-628-3560

Watercolor World

Watercolor Class July 11th

We had our little beginner watercolor class today in the studio.  Here are
the artists with their finished paintings.  They learned the basic watercolor
techniques, and then practiced them.  Then they painted this landscape,
one stage at a time along with me.  They used all of the techniques that
they had practiced to complete their painting.  We all had a good time,
and I think the students learned a lot!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Teach-able Moment

Katie's hands on the wheel

A smile about the outcome!

Careful....

Finishing touches, and a little help
from a paper towel

Daniel teaching watercolor today


We had a lot going on this afternoon in the studio: I
was helping Katie with her clay project, and Mr.
Rockett was teaching watercolor painting to his
students.  Katie is working on her Senior Project,
a high school class that requires the students to
learn a skill that they have never tried before.
And they must complete a research paper, and
finish a project, as well as do a demonstration.
She still has a couple of weeks left, but I won't
be here...so we are trying to get through. Fun,
fun...! (Don't we all work better under
pressure?!)

sheltongail@hotmail.com

I am continuing to post some things on the
Fine Art America site for sale...
www.fineartamerica.com

Life's a Bowl of Cherries

I still teach some children's art classes once a

week at the gallery.  Today, we worked on

some colored pencil techniques.  They all drew

the cherry: layering yellow, orange, red orange,

and finally red.  Then they worked on a toucan,

using the same techniques that they used on

the cherry.  They are quite the "little artists",

and they make me smile!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

I will be teaching some one day workshop

classes this summer.  I will try to post the

schedule soon.